How to cancel awards without litigation

Labor legislation encourages workers to perform their labor functions efficiently, thereby introducing incentives for work.

Incentives can be different; the employer can determine different incentives for his company, including the issuance of bonuses. Types of incentives, the procedure for issuing them, as well as the grounds for deprivation of bonuses must be enshrined in the local regulations of companies.

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Is it possible to deprive an employee of his bonus?

In practice, an employer can deprive employees of bonuses on the following justified grounds:

1. Employee absenteeism (failure to show up at work for more than 4 hours in a row) or failure to attend the workplace in accordance with the work time sheet without good reason (read how to challenge absenteeism at the link).
2. Theft (petty).
3. Showing up at work while intoxicated
4. Damage to the organization's property.
5. Failure to fulfill one’s labor tasks and functions as provided for in the employment contract.
6. Disclosure of company trade secrets.

Also, local regulations of the company may provide for other grounds for deprivation of bonuses. For the above reasons, the employer can apply various measures, for example, dismissal, reprimand, and also deprivation of bonuses.

When depriving an employee of a bonus, the employer must have evidence that the employee committed one of the violations. Evidence may include witnesses, a camera (video) that recorded that a person has damaged the company’s property, failure to submit a report as the main task of the employee, absenteeism (there is a statement from the employee or an act of his absence on the working day. Deprivation of the bonus is formalized by order of the company with notifying the employee of its deprivation.An employer cannot illegally deprive an employee of a bonus without indicating reasons.

Cancellation of bonuses in the absence of regulation of the bonus procedure in the organization

Bonuses are incentive payments of a stimulating nature that the employer has the right to pay to employees. They are part of the wage system and are paid under various circumstances. Providing bonuses to employees is the right, but not the obligation, of the employer. However, the organization may have rules that oblige it to pay bonuses.

Such rules are enshrined in:

1. Employment contracts (Article 57 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).
2. Local acts (Article 8 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).
3. Collective agreements (Article 40 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).

If no rules are established, then there is no need to cancel bonuses, since their payment is not obligatory. Since bonuses are paid based on the employer’s order, it is sufficient not to issue bonus orders.

How to legally deprive an employee of a bonus?

Many small companies and individual entrepreneurs that have full-time employees, but do not have lawyers, do not know how to properly deprive employees of bonuses, even sometimes large companies have problems with paperwork when depriving employees of bonuses, because if a bonus is illegally deprived, the employee can go to court , for which the company will incur unforeseen expenses. In order to legally deprive a bonus, you must act in the following order:

1. Draw up an act reflecting the basis for depreciation of the employee and in what amount, or a memorandum (it is usually drawn up by the manager or head of a department or division), which is respectively transferred to the personnel department or accounting department. The memo is drawn up in order to notify senior management of the employee’s violation and the deprivation of his bonus, and in order to take the necessary measures in the further process of drawing up the order. The report must reflect the reasons and grounds for deprivation of the bonus. The amount of bonuses, if provided, is usually indicated in the employee’s employment contract so that there are no difficulties in the future. Bonuses may be deprived either completely or partially, depending on the reason and discretion of the employer.
2. Require the employee to write an explanatory statement for what reason he violated his labor function, or other grounds for the company’s acts. Evidence can be attached to the documents drawn up by the manager and the employee on the basis of which the employee is deprived of a bonus. All these documents subsequently serve as the basis for not accruing bonuses.
3. After completing all the documents and transferring them to the relevant department, an order must be issued as an officially confirming document. The order is drawn up in printed form, which is given to the employee for review against signature. The employee has every right to familiarize himself with this document and make sure that everything is drawn up correctly.

How to Cancel an Order to Forfeit a Bonus

1. Full details of the employing company, position and full name of the citizen.
2. Circumstances of the incident: when the employer deprived the employee of the bonus and for what reason.
3. On what basis does the employee believe that the deprivation of bonuses was illegal?
4. Requirements to the court: restore violated rights and return the amount of the premium, compensate for moral damage, etc.

If the issue of salary calculation is regulated in sufficient detail in the Labor Code, then the employer has a certain freedom of action regarding bonus rules . The employer has the right to determine at his discretion:

General algorithm for depriving a bonus (read more...)

Order on depreciation of employees

An important document for depriving employees of bonuses is an order. An order as the basis for official confirmation of the deprivation of a bonus, so that in the future there will be no claims against each other between the employee and the employer. Issuing an order to companies is a mandatory condition, since fines may be imposed on the company if a person is deprived of bonuses illegally. Also, the employee himself can subsequently appeal to the Labor Inspectorate or to court for illegal deprivation of bonuses. The order is drawn up on behalf of the organization in which the employee is employed. The order must reflect the following conditions:

1. Reason for not accruing a bonus (absence from work, theft, damage to property, etc.), date (when it happened).
2. Information about the employee (position, department).
3. Amount of bonus deprivation (in whole or in part).
4. Attached documents to the order (absence report, memo, explanatory note, video).
5. Familiarization with the order of the director of the company.
6. Familiarization with the employee's order.

How to Cancel an Order to Forfeit a Bonus

Depreciation is prescribed only if there are grounds. More often than others, bonuses are deprived for violation of labor discipline in the workplace on the following grounds:

According to labor legislation, double punishment for one offense is impossible. But given that, according to the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, deprivation of a bonus is not related to disciplinary sanctions, it can be carried out simultaneously with the imposition of a reprimand. This cannot be regarded as double punishment.

Is it possible to completely deprive incentives (read more...)

Who should not be deprived

At the legislative level, there are categories of workers who are prohibited from being deprived of bonuses. It is believed that an employer cannot impose several disciplinary measures against an employee. For example, it is prohibited to deprive an employee of a bonus and impose an additional fine.

Sometimes management deprives an employee of bonuses only because he came to work in clothes that do not comply with the dress code. Such actions by management are considered illegal.

A person's clothing cannot in any way affect the quality of the work performed. Of course, if a special form is not provided for by safety regulations. It is the right of the employer to assign or deny a bonus. There are no clearer deprivation rules.

How to cancel the payment of bonuses if they are provided for in the employment contract

A different situation arises when the procedure for paying bonuses to a specific employee is established in the employment contract with him. By virtue of Art. 57 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, it is mandatory to include in the employment contract conditions on remuneration (including incentive payments, if they are applied in the organization).

The procedure for bonuses in an employment contract can be stipulated in several ways:

1. Mandatory bonuses have been established without clear grounds for this. In such a situation, bonuses become part of the salary and the employer is obliged to pay them in the manner specified in the employment contract.
2. A fixed amount of bonuses has been established, which are paid if there are grounds for this (for example, when the employee fulfills the production plan).
3. A link is provided to the local act regulating the procedure for bonuses. In this case, the procedure for paying bonuses and the mandatory nature of accruals will depend on the provisions of the local act.

You can cancel a bonus fixed in an employment contract with the consent of the employee, since changes to the document are made by agreement of the parties. The procedure for making changes is prescribed in Art. 72 Labor Code of the Russian Federation. To cancel the bonus conditions, an additional agreement to the employment contract is concluded, which is signed by the parties.

When concluding each employment contract, it is recommended to think through its terms in advance in order to avoid a situation where there is a need to change its provisions.

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It is possible to change the terms of the contract unilaterally, by virtue of Art. 74 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, but only if the company’s organizational or technological working conditions have changed. In this case, the employer is obliged to notify employees of the changes in advance, 2 months in advance. However, in the event of a dispute, there will be an obligation to prove that working conditions have actually changed. If this cannot be proven, employees will have their rights reinstated.

The procedure for canceling bonuses specified in the local act

If the obligation to pay bonuses to employees is enshrined in a local act, for example, in the Regulations on Bonuses, it is quite simple to cancel it.

The procedure for canceling local acts is prescribed in Art. 12 Labor Code of the Russian Federation. The grounds for termination of a local act are as follows:

1. Expiration of the document. The period can only expire if it is specified in the document. After the expiration of the period, the act ceases to be valid automatically.
2. Cancellation of a local act by another local act. An employer may adopt a new local act that changes the terms of a previously adopted document partially or completely.
3. Adoption of a law whose terms are contrary to a local act. This situation is unlikely, since the bonus procedure is not regulated by law, and this situation is unlikely to change in the near future. Bonuses (as a general rule) are the right of the employer, but not his obligation.

Bonus order - design features

Bonuses are understood as certain cash payments made in the form of an addition to the basic salary and serving as a reward for certain achievements in work and fulfillment of obligations. Bonuses are issued and given to employees to increase the efficiency of their work, as well as to further improve any production indicators at the enterprise.

At the same time, employees are financially interested in the high-quality performance of their job duties. The employer’s right to introduce a reward system in the company is taken into account in Article 191 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. But the entrepreneur must clearly define the circle of employees who are entitled to bonuses, as well as the conditions for issuance.

Employees can be encouraged in the following ways:

1. Announcement by the head of the organization of gratitude for quality work.
2. Bonuses.
3. Issuance of awards, certificates of honor and gifts.

The bonus can be stimulating or social. In the first case, it is issued for the employee’s achievement of excellent work performance, and in the second, on the occasion of a birthday or other celebration, which in no way depends on the quality of the work performed. An incentive bonus is always given in cash and cannot be replaced by a regular thank you.

Can a reprimand and deprivation of a bonus be combined in one order?

Labor Code of the Russian Federation in Art. 193 specifies that for 1 disciplinary offense only 1 penalty can be applied. The types of penalties are specified in Art. 192 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation (reprimand, dismissal or reprimand). Accordingly, only one penalty is imposed by one order.

At the same time, the Labor Code of the Russian Federation does not contain provisions on deprivation of bonuses as a way of punishing an offending employee. As a result, the question arises: is it possible to combine deprivation of a bonus and a reprimand in one order? The answer is negative, since deprivation of bonuses may be one of the types of disciplinary sanctions by virtue of Part 2 of Art. 192 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, if this is provided for by a local act of the organization. The use of 2 types of penalties for 1 offense is contrary to Art. 193 Labor Code of the Russian Federation.

Regulations on bonuses

You can find a sample order for a one-time bonus at the link.

To clearly define the rules that determine the procedure for stimulating employees, it is better to develop a separate regulation or local regulatory act of the organization. In this provision, the entrepreneur can indicate the types of incentives for his employees in accordance with the collective agreement, charter or disciplinary regulations. The document can also define the conditions, amounts of payments and the procedure for depriving them.

The bonus regulations must contain information such as the objectives of the incentive and the number of employees subject to it. The manager personally signs the regulation after it is drawn up, then signatures are placed by employees who are familiar with its terms.

An order on bonuses for employees is not always developed in organizations, but it can save any manager from unnecessary red tape. A single document regulating the general bonus system eliminates the need to make decisions on remuneration for each employee separately. Employees will have an idea in which cases they can count on a bonus. Also, the company’s expenses will be documented, which will make it possible to reduce the tax base.

The provision must be previously agreed upon with the accounting department, legal department and human resources department. The manager can regularly draw up a list of people worthy of bonuses. After this, he is obliged to issue an order. Regular monthly payments must be made in accordance with the bonus regulations.

In what cases are bonuses issued?

Typically, each employer determines the terms of payment of bonuses and their size. The law does not prohibit the creation of an individual regime for issuing them, depending on the provisions of the employment contract concluded between the parties.
If the company has specified performance standards in advance, then if they are not met, employees may receive a reduced bonus or be left without it. But all decisions on changes in such payments must be strictly justified. There are some common cases in which a reward system is necessary.

Is it possible to withdraw money from an individual entrepreneur's current account? We invite you to find out the options.

1. Achieving high performance in production while performing basic job functions.
2. Efficiency and effectiveness of work for a certain period - year, quarter, month.
3. The employee’s long work experience, as well as his retirement. The award may be issued on any anniversary date.